World Championships - Team Day 2

DATELINE - AUGUST 8, 2008

There have been two notable upsets on the women's side of the team competition at the 14th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, as the number 3 and 4 seeds are out.

Sixth seeded Bolivia defeated Japan, the third seed two matches to one. The Bolivians began by winning the doubles match with Jenny Daza and Carola Loma defeating Rie Masuyama and Maiko Sato, 15-10, 15-7. But Japan leveled the set when Toshiko Sakamoto beat Yazmine Sabja, 15-6, 8-15, 11-6.

The deciding match was close, but Daza put Bolivia over the top by winning the tie-breaking game against Harumi Kajino, taking the match 15-14, 13-15, 11-2.

Bolivia will next face Canada in the semi-finals, who defeated South Korea three matches to none.

Chile, seeded 5th, defeated 4th seeded Mexico on the basis of two wins in singles, although the match up began with a Mexican win in doubles. Paola Longoria and Rosy Torres defeated Angela Grisar and Fabiola Marquez, 15-4, 15-1.

However, Grisar and Marquez, who are doing double duty for Chile playing both doubles and singles, pulled out the team victory by winning their singles matches in tie-breakers. Grisar defeated Longoria, 15-12, 7-15, 11-7, and Marquez beat Susana Acosta, 15-11, 11-15, 11-4. 

Chile will face the powerful USA team in the other semi-final. The USA beat Venezuela 3-0 in matches to advance to the semis.

On the men's side, the big three remain on track, as Canada, Mexico and the USA have all advanced to the quarter finals. In that round, Canada is up against Costa Rica, Mexico faces Ecuador and the US take on Japan. Bolivia and Venezula round out the quarter finalists.

With sadness, The Racquetball Blog reports that Team Catalonia lost in the Round of 16 to Venezuela. But they didn't go down without a fight, as their singles matches went to tie-breakers. Marcelo Laprea defeated Victor Montserrat, 15-8, 4-15, 11-8, and Cesar Castro beat Carlos Oviedo, 15-1, 14-15, 11-2. Having won those matches, Venezuela defaulted the doubles match so as to save energy for the next round.

The team competition runs through Saturday in Kingscourt, Ireland.

The draws are available at R2Sports.